Chapter 17 of The Sign of the Red Cross is here in full — 201 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The Sign of the Red Cross is here in full — 201 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Father! sweet father! thank Heaven thou art come! Methought we should be burned alive in this terrible house. Methought perchance all of you had been burned. O father! tell me, what is befalling? It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed with fervent heat!"
Chapter 17 of The Sign of the Red Cross is here in full — 201 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/40 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
possessing life
From this reading “Methought we should be burned alive in this terrible house.”
treated by heating to a high temperature but below the melting or fusing point
From this reading “Methought we should be burned alive in this terrible house.”
past form of “consume” — eat up completely, as with great appetite
From this reading “It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed with fervent heat!"”
characterized by intense emotion
From this reading “It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed with fervent heat!"”
a form of energy that is transferred by a difference in temperature
From this reading “It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed with fervent heat!"”
an opinion formed by judging something
From this reading “It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed with fervent heat!"”
through chance
From this reading “Methought perchance all of you had been burned.”
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading “Methought we should be burned alive in this terrible house.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
possessing life
From this reading Methought we should be burned alive in this terrible house.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Methought perchance all of you had been burned.
an old form of “are”, used with “thou”
From this reading "Father! sweet father! thank Heaven thou art come!
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Methought we should be burned alive in this terrible house.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Methought perchance all of you had been burned.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O father! tell me, what is befalling?
treated by heating to a high temperature but below the melting or fusing point
From this reading Methought we should be burned alive in this terrible house.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading "Father! sweet father! thank Heaven thou art come!
past form of “consume” — eat up completely, as with great appetite
From this reading It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed with fervent heat!"
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading "Father! sweet father! thank Heaven thou art come!
characterized by intense emotion
From this reading It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed with fervent heat!"
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Methought perchance all of you had been burned.
a form of energy that is transferred by a difference in temperature
From this reading It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed with fervent heat!"
any place of complete bliss and delight and peace
From this reading "Father! sweet father! thank Heaven thou art come!
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading Methought we should be burned alive in this terrible house.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Methought we should be burned alive in this terrible house.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading O father! tell me, what is befalling?
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed with fervent heat!"
an opinion formed by judging something
From this reading It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed with fervent heat!"
immediately past
From this reading It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed with fervent heat!"
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed with fervent heat!"
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading O father! tell me, what is befalling?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Methought we should be burned alive in this terrible house.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading O father! tell me, what is befalling?
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Methought perchance all of you had been burned.
through chance
From this reading Methought perchance all of you had been burned.
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed with fervent heat!"
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading Methought we should be burned alive in this terrible house.
having or denoting the characteristic taste of sugar
From this reading "Father! sweet father! thank Heaven thou art come!
express in words
From this reading O father! tell me, what is befalling?
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading Methought we should be burned alive in this terrible house.
express gratitude or show appreciation to
From this reading "Father! sweet father! thank Heaven thou art come!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed with fervent heat!"
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Methought we should be burned alive in this terrible house.
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading "Father! sweet father! thank Heaven thou art come!
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading Methought we should be burned alive in this terrible house.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading O father! tell me, what is befalling?
at the time that
From this reading It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed with fervent heat!"
in the company of; together with
From this reading It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed with fervent heat!"
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading It is like the last judgment, when all the world shall be consumed with fervent heat!"
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Methought perchance all of you had been burned.
Chapter 17 of The Sign of the Red Cross by Evelyn Everett-Green holds 201 sentences, grouped into 41 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 17 holds 201 sentences of The Sign of the Red Cross, unabridged, divided into 41 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The Sign of the Red Cross by Evelyn Everett-Green exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 201 sentences, grouped into 41 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 41 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 41 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 17 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The Sign of the Red Cross by Evelyn Everett-Green on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3922 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #13840 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #13840, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 326 minutes of reading across 785 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Sign of the Red Cross section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of The Sign of the Red Cross to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Sign of the Red Cross, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
